30 May 2000
Chairperson
Members of the Board of the Africa Institute
Dignitaries
Ambassadors and representatives of Embassies
Delegates
Ladies and Gentlemen
On the 40th anniversary of the Africa Institute, allow me to congratulate you on the swift and smooth transformation that your institution has undergone over the last few years. The Institute was established in 1960, at a time when South Africa was embarking on a most extreme form of suppressive rule, in the form of apartheid, and creating the conditions for its own isolation from the continent and the world.
Institutions such as this one therefore were perceived by the regime as important instruments for advancing the apartheid agenda. It is pleasing to note that in the six years since democratic rule was established in our country, the institution is now appropriately positioned to implement the agenda that aims to achieve the aspirations of the African continent. We recognise that, like many apartheid era institutions, it has transformed and is now in line with our vision of building a better Africa and a better world.
In the forty years of its existence, only in the last six years has it been an institution that is moving decisively to position itself alongside the aspirations of the continent and its people.
In this short period a new leadership has been ushered in, at both operational and board level, that has set the Africa Institution on a new path, aligned with the ideals of our new democratic nations.
The Institute has one of the most outstanding collections of specialised literature in its library than can be found anywhere on the continent. This is an invaluable resource in our interactions with the issues that face our continent. We see this centre as one that could complement the other centres of similar stature in Africa, in Dar es Salaam and Dakar, to name a few.
The Africa Institute has a lot to be proud of, in taking the initiative to conceptualise and organise this conference, drawing outstanding intellectuals and policy analysts from all over the continent of Africa as well as the rest of the world, something it could not do previously.
Your conference over the next few days will be a platform where African scholars, in the main, with their international counterparts, will identify the research agenda to take forward the issues that resort under the mantle of the African Renaissance into the 21st century.
We are confident that this agenda will underpin and enrich the framework for the continent's political, social and economic integration. The discussions here should enhance the agenda of the upcoming OAU Summit in Togo, next month.
My desire is that the network that will be established here, will be strengthened to provide further sustenance to the ideal of our African Renaissance.
Your intellectual resolve is required to counter the prevailing Afro-pessimism that is exemplified by an article in The Economist of May 2000, whose views reside somewhere far from African reality.
I believe that it is time that, as African scholars you should vigorously rebut such arrogant and misleading views about the continent. It is time that Africa should be interpreted by its own commentators and analysts, who know and feel it better than those who have been commenting about Africa from afar.
The theme of the conference is apt with its reference to the necessity of forging unity on the African continent. As a starting point, we need to bear in mind that the call to unify Africa is not a new call. In fact it has been on the African agenda, since the beginning of the struggle for freedom on the continent.
The formation of the OAU, was the most concrete form, which sought to promote the unity and solidarity of African States; eradicate all forms of colonialism and co-ordinate diplomatic and other key activities.
Colonial rule left in its wake colonial boundaries that cause further problems and divided Africans in terms of who their colonial masters were, thus leaving a legacy of conflict and, in the majority of times, transferring its own conflicts, driven by its own interests. These divisions were so deep that even in the post colonial period, they caused more problems for the African people. All of this has led to extreme forms of intolerance that at times have led to wars.
Today one finds bitter, internal conflicts that, at times, draw in whole regions. What this means is that the fragmentation that exists, needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency as one of the strategies to contain and ultimately eradicate the many conflicts that continue to plague our continent.
Although it is not practical at this point to soften the borders that divide us, economic co-operation and advancement will ensure that they become less of a factor with time. There is already movement towards this desired cohesion. At regional level, African countries have embarked upon various programmes for the promotion of integration and have established entities to support their efforts.
The African Regional Economic Communities are a case in point to engender co-operation within the various regions. The challenge that faces us, then, is to extend this co-operation beyond the regional blocs towards the formation of economic and social unity in Africa.
In this regard, the pursuit of narrow self-interest and opportunism must end, and conflict prevention, management and resolution must become a priority issue. Similarly, the structural causes of conflict, ranging from poverty, democratic deficiencies to the politics of ethnicity must be combated vigorously. Where sub-regional alliances exist, they must be used as building blocks for stronger regional and ultimately, continental co-operation.
I therefore believe that you as African intellectuals should convert the complexity of concepts and frameworks and make it accessible to the mass of our people on our beloved continent. It is incumbent upon all of us to ensure that everyone has a clear understanding why the idea of African Unity has become central to our discourse at this juncture.
It is when Africa succeeds in resolving its conflicts and establishes peace and stability, economic co-operation and political co-operation that we can confidently say we have achieved our final objective to establish, in practical terms, the unity which would mark the culmination of Africa's noble ideals of one continent in harmony with itself. It is then that we can begin to put a label to the form in which that co-operation would be.
I believe that if Europe which was once so divided to a point that it went through two world wars, but could come around to establish an economic bloc and parliament, one currency and soften its borders, Africa too can achieve this goal. It is therefore not a waste of time to strive for this noble objective.
In conclusion, it is my wish that this should not just be another conference, but actually set a concise agenda for the pursuit of the idea of a united Africa, as well as propelling forward the ideas, of how to make our continent prosperous, stable and consolidating and deepening democracy.
This is what will make us achieve the objectives of our people. I remain confident that this is what will emerge from this conference.
Forward to the African Century.
I Thank You